1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to folded paper boxes, and more particularly to a folded paper box for storage and/or display of audio or video cassettes and the like, the box having a tear-off edge panel which normally folds over to close the box, but can also be torn away along a line shaped such that upon removing the tear off panel the remaining box defines a notched area adapted for grasping both opposite sides of the container. Accordingly the box is convertible between a full enclosure, e.g., for shipping, and a pull-out partial enclosure, e.g., for convenient home storage.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Video and audio cassettes, and other articles of similar shape, may be bought in stores or ordered through the mail, and are intended for use numerous times, between which times the cassettes must be stored. The cassette, or a rigid plastic enclosure holding the cassette, is usually supplied in a paperboard box. The boxes in which cassettes are sold and displayed in stores are usually opened by raising an edge flap having a distal end that slides into the box between the contents and a wall of the box. The cassette or the like is replaced by reopening the box edge flap and reclosing it over the cassette. Frequently boxes of this type are insubstantial and are not intended for repeated use over the life of the cassette, the constant opening, closing and reopening manipulation of the end flaps being inconvenient and eventually causing damage to the box. Display boxes also often include transparent panels for viewing the label of the cassette through the box. When cassettes are packaged for mailing, they are generally packaged in boxes which are more sturdy, but still are not structured for convenient repeated reuse because access to the cassette is limited. They usually do not include a see-through panel. Inasmuch as the closure flap interferes with access to the cassette, boxes provided for fully enclosing cassettes are not provided with openings for grasping the cassette to remove it from the box. The edges of the box extend up to or over the edges of the cassette, making the cassette hard to grasp for removal from the box.
Another type of cassette box is more adapted to home storage, being open all along a lateral edge to display a label along the cassette edge and providing easier manual access to the cassette. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,445,634 and 4,520,927 - Sato both disclose five-sided cassette boxes of this type with aligned cutouts in the box the edge of on opposite faces adjacent the open edge. Both patents disclose folded boxes which do not completely enclose the cassette, leaving one long edge open and providing the cut out areas adjacent that end for cassette removal by grasping the opposite faces of the cassette at the cutouts. The Sato packages are not useful for mailing because they do not enclose or fully engage the cassette.
Paper or paperboard cassette storage boxes can be constructed by folding a single sheet of card stock or durable paper to form an enclosure for a cassette. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,134,495 - Friedman and 4,438,846 - Stylianou disclose flap closures. U.S. Pat. No. 2,760,710 - Fritz discloses a flap closure, and the adjacent side has a window for viewing the cassette label. U.S. Pat. No. 3,990,574 - Roccaforte discloses an audio cassette box wherein a discrete removable element with a foldover flap is fully and not attached integrally or adhesively to the box. The removable part includes an additional panel that extends inwardly between the contents and the box face panel on a side opposite the side receiving the foldover flap.
Perforations are frequently used in paperboard boxes to define a fold line, being relatively weaker than the adjacent material and thus forming a preferential fold line. The perforations defining fold lines in most foldable storage and display boxes are not intended to define tear strips. Should a user nevertheless tear off a foldable flap, for example along a perforated fold line, the tear proceeds along the right angle edge of the box, leaving the open ended edge of the box extending to the extreme edge of the cassette. Although some of the above cassette boxes employ cutouts for grasping, they do not teach any means to combine perforations or removable closing flaps with a cutout area on both opposite sides of the cassette, as needed for grasping.
There is, therefore, a need for a box which is adapted for both mailing and storage, which utilizes a removable foldover panel and also provides for a area for grasping, facilitating removal of the cassette from the box. Such a combination box in accordance with the invention is useful for protecting the cassette or the like during pre-sale storage and shipping, enclosing it fully, and the same box provides the easy access and removal features of an open end box with cutouts on both sides of the cassette.